Traveling to / from Russia by train

contents: general info • trains • rail passes • beware: transit visas • prices & times of the trips • how to book a train ticket

General Info:
Usually it takes around 35 hours of travel time to get from Western Europe to Moscow or St.Petersburg by train. If you take a train from Eastern Europe (Poland, for example) it'll take you around 24 hours, if you take a train from Baltic states, it'll take you around 15 hours. Add some time for changing the trains.
The average return ticket from western European countries to Moscow if you use trains, will cost you from $200. The closer you are to Russia the cheaper it is, especially from the Baltic States. If you have an international rail pass the price might be much cheaper, depending on the option you choose.

Trains:
Taking a train to Russia (and from Russia abroad) is probably the most comfortable option (after the place). But the prices for international trains are usually higher than the bus prices. Especially it concerns the trains to and from Scandinavian countries. Usually international trains are quite comfortable, but if you are going to take Russian train, see more information about Russian train system.
Keep in mind, that if you buy a train ticket in Russia, you'll spend some time standing in the lines.

Rail Passes.
Rail Passes can make your trave through Europe significantly cheaper. Usually, a passes like Eurail work only in Western Europe, but there are also rail passes for Eastern European countries.
If you want to buy a European rail pass on the internet, you can try Europe-on-Rail website (information about European (western and eastern) rail passes and it's possible to buy them online).
The most widely used pass is Eurail Youthpass (for those under 26). The Eurail Youthpass (www.eurail.com) gives you unlimited 2nd class train travel in and between Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland for some period of time. The pass for 30 consecutive days costs $623; 15 travel days in 2 months will cost $600.
Another useful pass is ScanRail which gives 50% discount in most cases for travels in Scandinavia, up to the Russian border.

Beware: Transit Visas
Keep in mind that sometimes you will need a transit visa for going through some Eastern European countries and former USSR (now CIS and Baltic) countries.
See Russian Visa / Transit Visas for the list of the countries for which you might need a transit visa.
If you choose a route to Russia that goes through Belarus or Ukraine you'll surely need a transit visa (unless you're a CIS citizen). The transit visa exists to make money on the travellers, so the price of the visa is about $30-$40 and you can get it in the country's embassy, but not at the border.
To avoid extra visa hassles you can go to Russia through Baltic States, it's unlikely that you will need a visa for Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The Baltic states are very nice countries to visit, and your travel will not cost more (maybe even less, especially if your first destination is St. Petersburg). The only thing is that you'll need to change the trains, and that can make you pay for additional accommodation and food on your way to Russia.
(See Russian Visa / Transit Visas for the list of the countries for which you might need a transit visa.)
So, the best thing to do is to compare how much time and money you'll spend on direct trave and transit visas, and on indirect travel, and choose the best option. It always depends on where you are now and what travel options you have.



Prices & Time of a Train Trip to Russia:
(all prices are in US dollars, for 2nd class tickets. The prices and lengths apply for the back trips as well) Here are some of the train prices, for more detailed info see Internation Trains Schedules & Prices section.

Information valid as of 6 February 2005. Some fluctuations (+-15%) are possible, as the Russian Railways policy in unpredictable. If you get a ticket through a travel agency, the price will be higher

How to Book an International Train in Russia:
If you leave from Russia to some other country (Asia, Eastern Europe, Baltics, Western Europe), you can buy the train tickets direcly at the railway station (where your train departs from), but you can't book a ticket there. They start selling the tickets 45 days beforehand.
A train ticket can only be reserved in a travel agency, but you'll need to buy it immediately. The agency will save you a lot of time you'd spend getting the information, looking at the schedules, standing in the lines and explaining the operators what you need. At the same time, the train tickets at the agencies cost more, because there's no comission system in Russia, so agencies have to markup the prices, to be able to work, as well as pay tax from the total price of the ticket. The markup for international tickets is usually around 25% of the initial price (that you'd pay yourself at the railway station).

You can reserve a train ticket from Russia to any destination through WayToRussia.Net. For more information, prices, and confitions, please, see our Train Tickets Reservation section.